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Statement by President Barack
Obama on Women Serving in Combat - January 24, 2013

In my State of the Union last year, I
urged Congress to take steps to fix the way they do business.
Specifically, I asked them to address the fact that a simple
majority is no longer enough to pass anything – even routine
business – through the Senate. And today, I am pleased that a
bipartisan group of Senators has agreed to take action.

Too often over the past four years, a single Senator or a handful of
Senators has been able to unilaterally block or delay bipartisan
legislation for the sole purpose of making a political point. At a
time when we face critical decisions on a whole range of issues –
from preventing further gun violence, to reforming our broken
immigration system, to getting our fiscal house in order and
creating good paying jobs – we cannot afford unnecessary
obstruction. And I am hopeful that today’s bipartisan agreement
will pave the way for the Senate to take meaningful action in the
days and weeks ahead.

I also want to thank leaders in Congress
for changing the Senate rules in an effort to resurrect the
longstanding tradition of considering consensus district court
judicial nominations on a more routine basis. After being approved
by the Senate Judiciary Committee, my judicial nominees have waited
more than three times longer to receive confirmation votes than
those of my predecessor, even though the overwhelming majority of my
nominees have been confirmed with little, if any, dissent. These
months of unnecessary delay have threatened our judiciary. Today’s
reforms are a positive step towards a fairer and more efficient
system of considering district court nominees, and I urge the Senate
to treat all of my judicial nominees in the same spirit.